Fischer vs. Spassky 40th Anniversary Mystery Cache
Fischer vs. Spassky 40th Anniversary
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On September 3rd, 1972 Bobby Fischer became World Chess Champion when Boris Spassky resigned game 21 of their match. The match began with a win for Spassky when Fischer made an elementary blunder in a drawn position. Then Fischer forfeited game 2 when he didn’t show up in a dispute over his claims that TV cameras were disturbing his concentration. People thought the match would be cancelled after that, but Fischer did show up for game 3, which he won for his first ever win over Spassky. From that point forward, Fischer won games 5, 6, 8, and 10 while drawing games 4, 7, and 9 to take a commanding 6 ½ - 3 ½ lead in the match. Spassky came back by winning game 11, but it was his last victory of the match, which Fischer ended up winning 12 ½ to 8 ½.
This match was one of the most watched sporting events of the 20th Century. The cold war was still dominating the world’s attention, and Fischer was the first non-Soviet to play for the World Championship since the World Chess Federation (FIDE) took over the championship in 1948. Hundreds of journalists moved to Reykjavik, Iceland to cover the match over the summer. The result of each game was headline news in papers around the world. In the United States, the games broadcast on PBS were the highest rated shows in the network’s history. Literally millions of new players learned Chess in order to follow the match. Imagine the 1980 US-USSR “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey game, but happening 21 times over the course of 2 months instead of just once.
This match changed Chess history. Bobby Fischer became the first Chess superstar, becoming one of the most recognized people on Earth. Fischer’s demands for adequate prize funds and playing conditions improved Chess tournaments and matches permanently. This match had a $250,000 purse. By comparison, when Spassky played Petrosian in 1969 the purse was only $1400, and the record purse was $20,000 raised by Capablanca’s patrons when he challenged Lasker in 1921. The attention the match received led to a huge increase in Chess activity in the West, which spawned a new generation of American and Western European Grandmasters to come along in the late ‘70s and 80’s.
Unfortunately, the promise of Fischer’s reign came to an abrupt end. He played almost no Chess for 20 years after winning this match. In 1975, disagreements about match rules and playing conditions led to his refusal to defend his title and the World Championship was given to challenger Anatoly Karpov. Karpov went on to be one of the most active and successful World Champions, many say to prove his worthiness of the title since he didn’t ever defeat Fischer over the board. Fischer became a recluse and many suspect suffered from mental illness over the rest of his life. He occasionally published rants against Jews, America, Israel, and other targets of his irrational wrath.
Fischer came out of retirement to play a rematch against Spassky for a $5 Million prize fund in Yugoslavia in 1992, winning that match 10-5 with 15 draws. Because this violated U.S. sanctions against Yugoslavia he was ordered not to play but in a press conference before the match he spit on the letter from the U.S. government and declared he would not obey U.S. law. He spent the rest of his life in various other countries seeking asylum and avoiding extradition. He finally moved back to Iceland late in life, where he died in January 2008 at the age of 64.
While Fischer’s behavior in his later years tarnished his image with the public, there is no doubt he was one of the greatest (if not the very greatest) chess players of all time. No player before or since has come even close to the record of 20 straight victories over other world-class Grandmasters he achieved in the qualification matches to play Spassky. His dominance over contemporary players in tournament play was also unmatched. He won all 8 of the U.S. Championships he participated in, including one with an unprecedented 11-0 sweep. And for over a decade he took first place in almost every event he played in. It is tragic that his mental health issues prematurely cut his career short while in its prime.
The cache may be found at the following coordinates:
North 44 52.
West 093 26.
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